Some light was shed on Shadows, the upcoming expansion for Distant Worlds. In it we will get new technologies, buildings, ship abilities and some mayor changes to the ground combat system. We will however apparantly also get to become the scourge of merchant shipping if we so desire.

What were previously “pirates” are now independent space-based factions that can pursue a variety of playstyles, ranging from trade, war and espionage to pure chaos and plunder.

Here is the promised feature list.

- Play as an independent space-based faction, a very different play experience from the existing “Empire” gameplay.
– Choose from several playstyles, including Smuggler, Pirate and Mercenary.
– Compete in victory conditions against other space-based factions.
– New Pirate Leader and Pirate Captain characters
- Choose to play in the existing Distant Worlds timeline or the pre-hyperspace “Age of Shadows”
- Assault pods and ship to ship or base boarding actions, including ship and base capture
- Gravitic Weapons and Tractor Beams
- New expanded Ground Combat with new troop types and an animated ground battle resolution screen
– Infantry, Armor/Mech, Special Forces, Planetary Defense Units (multi-layered)
– Resolution of the multiple stages of a planetary assault
– Expanded troop experience
– New Ground Combat technology tree
- Expanded and improved Area Weapons
- New planetary facilities
- Improved AI and new comprehensive difficulty settings